Elevator-service register.



H. A. DESPER.

ELEVAIOR SERVICE REGISTER. APPLICATION men SEPT- 5. 190a.

Patented luly 27, 191 5.

3 SHEETSSHEET 1.

H. A. DESPER.

ELEVATOR SERVICE REGISTER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT- 5, 1908.

Patented July 27, 1915 3 SHEETSSHEET 2 il 3 \I WII ///////1 /A v, A ,n i

W L y. L \Y QPN fi R i V i H. A. DESPER.

ELEVATOR SERVICE REGISTER. APPLICATION FILED SEPT- 5. I908.

Patented July 27, 1915.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

- ,nE mY A. DESPER, or WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

ELEvivroE-sEavmE REGISTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 2'7, .1915.

Application filed September 5, 1908. Serial No. 451,817. I

To all whom it may concern:

, Be it known that I, HENRY 'DEsrER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of thelcity of W'orcester, in the county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, United States of America, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Elevator-Service Registers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in elevator service registers, and its object is to improve upon such structures as have heretofore been used for this purpose and to provide an apparatus which shall be simple in 5 construction and adaptable to the varying conalitions under which such devices are use Further objects of my invention will appear in the following specification in which I willdescribe the construction and arrangement'of. an apparatus embodying my invention, the novel features of which will be set forth in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of one of my improved registers with a part broken away to more clearly show its construction, and with its supporting base shown in one of its positions by full lines, and in another position by dotted lines.

Fig. 2 is a sectional side elevation of an auxiliary register which may be used coniunction with theiapparatus shown in Fig. 1..

Fig. 3 is a plan ew of a part of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 1 is a sectional side. elevation of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1. .Fig. is a-sectional front elevation of my improved register, the section being 1 taken on the line "5-5 of Fig. 4. Figs. 6 and '7 are, respectively, a side elevation and a plan'qview of a reduction element which is .a part of this apparatus. Fig. 8 is a front elevation of the auxiliary register which is shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 9 is a sectional side elevation of a registering apparatus similar to that shown in some of thepreceding figures, but with its actuating mechanism made according to a somewhat different arrangement. Fig. 10 is a sectional front elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 9, the section being taken on the line XX of Fig. 9. Fig.

9'also shows in side elevation one of the reduction elements previously mentioned.

Like characters of reference designate corresponding parts in all of the figures. 10 designates a circular casing by which certain parts of the apparatus are supported, and within which they are inclosed. A

part of casing 10 may be turned into a fin tapped holes through the surface 11 for the reception of holding screws 13'. These holes may be tapped at points about the periphery of the casing so that the supportin base may be aflixed to the casing at any esired angle. In Fig. 1 this supporting base is shown at 12 in one of the positions it may have relative to the casing, and at "12 it is shown in dotted lines in another of the many relative positions in which it may be used. It is to'be noted, also, that two sets of holes 14, 14 and 15, 15 are provided in the legs of this supporting base for convenience in fastening the device in the place in which it is to be used.

16, 16 are lugs projecting inwardly from diametrically opposite sides of the casing and are provided with tapped holes. 17, 17-

are similar lugs midway between the lugs 16, 16. and arranged to support beveled pinions 20, 20 by means of studs 18 which pass through the lugs 16 and are provided with lock-nuts 19 as shown.

21 is the cover of the casing which may be fitted closely over the latter so that the two form adust-tight in'closure for the actuating gea ring.- If desired, these parts may be made oil-tight so that the mechanism within them may be arranged to run .in'an oil bath. This coveris held onto the casing by screws 22, 22 which fit into the tapped holes in the lugs-16, 16. It is also arranged to support parts of the mechanism which is within the casing.

23 is a bevel gear within the casing and in mesh with the pinions 20, 20. Projecting from this gear and being an integral part thereof is a hollow gear stem 24 which extends through and is rotatably supported by a hub 10 upon the casing. On the rear end of this stem a sprocket-wheel 25 is aifixed by means of apin 26 which passes through the hub of the sprocket-wheel and the stem 24. The forward part of the sprocket-wheel hub is drilled out to fit over the outside of the hub 10. This arrangement provides a strong construction and long rigid bearings for the rotating parts without increasing the over-all length of the device. ihe center of stem 24% is drilled out for the reception of a shaft 27 which extends into it and intothe inside of a hub 21 which projects inwardly from the center of cover 21. The shaft 27 does not extend to the bottom of this hole in stem 24, but an enlarged space 28 is left for an oil chamber. An oil hole 29 is drilled from the outside of stem 24 near one of its edges into the chamber at a point on the ax1s of the stem and the shaft 27. By this simple arrangement lubricating oil may be kept .within this chamber up to the level of its axis, and it cannot run out unless it exceeds this -level. The oil within chamber 28 will Q plurallty of ratchet-pawls 32 with springs 33 arranged to press them into engagement with the ratchet-teeth on the surface of,

wheel 31. These springs are held in supporting fingers 34 which are slotted for the reception of the ends of springs 33 and which are bent over after the springs are inserted therein to securely clamp the springs in the manner shown. 35 are ratchet-pawls supported upon the gear 30 and similarly spring-pressed into engagement with the wheel 31.

Before proceedin with the description of the other partso this apparatus I will point out the operation of the actuating gearin above described; This apparatusis especia ly designed to register the travel of elevators or other moving bodies. It is to be secured to a convenient place near a moving part of.the apparatus,'for example, to

- a part of the structure of the building in chain may be run over such wheel and r which the elevatoris installed near its overhead sheaves. The ad'ustable supporting base which has beenescribed facilitates the installation ofthis apparatus. A sprocket-wheel mayibe affixed to move with one of the overhead sheaves or other moving parts of the elevator, and a sprocketover the sprocket-wheel on the registe Through such an arrangement the sprocketwheel 25 and the bevel gear 23 to which it is connected will be driven in either direction by the movements of the elevator. As

I the bevel gears .23 and are both in 'mesh with the pinions 20, it is evident that this movement willbe transmitted to the gear .30 and the latter will havethe same rotation as that of sprocket-wheel 25 and gear 23 but in the opposite direction. When the gear 23 rotates in one direction its pawls 32 will drive ratchet-wheel 31, and when gear 80 rotates in this same direction its pawls amount. of rotation as the sprocket-wheel 25,

but its rotation will be in one. direction, regardless of the direction of movement of the elevator and of the rotation of the sprocketwheel. v

' In designing the gears 23 and 30, and the pinions 20. I prefer to construct the gears with an even number of teeth, seventy-eight, for example, and the pinions with an odd number, say seventeen, so that each toothof the pinion engages with a different tooth of each gear upon succeeding revolutions of the gears. The pinions engage with the gears at points' diametrically opposed so that the gears are balanced thereby. The several pawls are preferably arranged to fall upon different parts of the ratchetwheel teeth so as to minimize the lost motion due to reversals,

In the modification shown in Figs. 9 and 10, a flat-faced wheel 40 is affixed to the shaft 27 instead of the ratchet-wheel previously described. To the gear 23 a housing 41 is attached which is cut out as shown at 42 to form ball cages having bases inclined in relation to the circumference of the wheel 40. In these openings balls or small rolls 43 are placed which are so proportioned that they will be caught between the flat faces of the wheel 40 and the inclined bases of the cages when the gear is rotated in one direc tion to thereby ock the gear and the wheel 40 together. These balls or rolls are so arranged that they will fall by gravity against the face of the wheel, as some one of the three will alwaysbe in a position to accomplish this result. During the opposite rot'ationv of gear 23 the balls will not have this locking effect but will ride freely out upon the inclined bases of their respective cages. 44 is a similar housin afiixed to the bevel gear 30 and providec l with openings v45 which form ball cages with their bases inclined in the opposite direction. Balls or rolls 46 in these openings lock the gear 30 and wheel 40 together when gear 30 is driven in the direction in which the shaft 27 is required to run and its balls run freely over thefsurface of wheel 40 when gear 30 runs in the opposite direction.

v 47 is a disk placed between the housings 41 and 44 for the purpose of retaining the balls 43 and 46 in their respective cages.

This is a preferred arrangement for making the reversible rotation of sprocketwheel 25 and gears 23 and 30 actuate wheel 40 and shaft 27 in a constant direction or' rotation. In order to prevent the wheel 40 from'overrunning when used in high-speed work, I interpose between its hub and the" It has been shown that the bearings of the shaft 27 are within the gear stem 21 and within the hub 21*, and that the gear 30 has its bearing upon the outside of this hub. This arrangement reduces the length of these bearings and provides a strong mechanical construction.

is an independent reduction element adapted to be interposed between the driving shaft 27 and the registering mechanism. Its driven arbor 51 is arranged to fit into a hole in the end of shaft 27 which is provided for this purpose and has a pin 52 passing through it which fits into a'slot cut through the end' of this shaft. As the front end of .shaft 27 is entirely within the cover 21 this pin 52 cannot drop out of place, even though it becomes loose in the arbor 51. This reduction element has a driving arbor 53 which is connected with the driven arbor 51 by suitable gears 54-.

In Figs. and 4: a registering mechanism 1 is shown which is inclosed in a casing 61,

, applicable to other forms '21 by screws 62 and by the movement which ten feet which casing is attached to the casing cover a locking pin which will be described later. This mechanism comprises the usual dials and reduction gearing which form no part of my invention, so I will describe only so much of them as is novel, or as is necessary to fully disclose my invention.

63 is a driven arbor by means of which the movement of shaft 27 is imparted to the registering dials through the reduction element '50. The dials are covered by a glass plate 64 which is held onto the casing 61 by a frame 65 fastened onto the casing 61 by screws 66 which are inserted from the inside of casing 61. A swinging cover plate 67 may also be provided if desired.

70 is a locking pin which is arranged to pass through the top of the casing 61 at 71., through one or more lugs '7 2 which project from the casing cover 21 for this purpose, and through the bottom of casing 61 at 7 3.

The end of this locking pin is drilled as at 74 for the reception of a seal 75. This novel arrangement of locking the meter and the variousparts of itsvmechanism is important, for by this simple device all parts of the mechanism are protected and cannot be tampered with without detection. Thls is because the mechanism cannot be taken apart withoutfirst removing the casing 61,

as the heads of screws 22, 22 which hold the cover onto the casing 10 are covered by the casing 61, and the latter cannot be removed without breaking the seal. This device is of registers and meters than that herein described, and 1 do not mean to limit myself to this specific use.

The reduction element which i. have above described is arranged to be attached tn the casing cover 21, and is preferably so proportioned and arranged that it will cause D or elevator travel imparts to the shaft 27 to give one revolution to the pointer over the first of the indicating dials. These dials are preferably geared together with a ten-to-one reduction, so that one hundred feet of elevator travel will give ten revolutions to the pointer over the first dial and one revolution to the pointer over the second dial. This reduction element is made a separate and independent mechanism so that the rest of the apparatus may be made up in standard size and may be made to register correctly for any elevator installation by simply changing this one element to meet the local conditions.

In many. cases these registers are necessarily installed in inaccessible places. Moreover, where a number of elevators or other machines in various parts of a building, or in different buildings, are each equipped with one of these devices, it becomes a matter of considerable trouble to take the readings from them all. To overcome these difficulties and to increase the desirability of these devices I have invented the auxiliary register 80 which is shown in Figs. 2 and 8. This comprises two sets of registering disks 81 and 82 within the casing 83 and actuating mechanism which ll will now describe.

s4 is an electromagnet which, when energized, will raise its core 85 and a pivoted lever 86. lhis, through suitable mechanical connections, is arranged to raise levers 87 and 88 which are respectively connected with the sets of registering disks 81 and 82 into the positions indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2. As these levers 87 and 88 and the other parts of the actuating mechanism are substantially alike in construction and operation 1 will specifically describe but one of them. The lever 88 is pivoted to a shaft 89 on which the disks 82 are loosely mounted.

90 is a ratchet-wheel having ten teeth and affixed to the right-hand disk of the set ofregistering disks 82.

91 is a pawl upon lever 88 which is arranged to engage with this ratchet-wheel to move the ratchetwheel and the disks with which it is connected one tenth of a revolution every time the magnet is energized and raises its core. On the periphery of this right-hand disk are characters indicating the desired amount of elevator travel which each impulse of the magnet is to record, for example, tenths of a mile of car travel.

92 is a pin affixed to the right-hand disk and arranged to engage with a pinion 93 upon the shaft 94, and to rotate the pinion one tenth of a revolution every time the pin makes one complete turn. Thls pinion 93 L 1 1 18 connected with tne next disk upon the 1 shaft 89 which is provided upon its periphery with indicating characters 1 O This second disk similarly cennected with the third disk, and likewise, all the disks of each set are geared together. The casing 83 is provided with openings over each set of recording disks, of such width that but one 4 character of each disk is visible at awtime.

As .these two sets of registering disks are actuated together it is evident that they will register alike. The upper set of registering disks is, however, provided with a knurledsetting button 95 which is on the outside of the casing 83 and which is connected by a hollow sleeve 96 with the righthand registering disk of this set. By means of this arrangementwhich is not Inore'specifically illustrated or describ'edas it is well known and forms no part of my inventionthe disks of this set may be manually set back to zero at any desired time.' Thus the daily performance of the elevator to which this device is connected may beregistered by the upper set of disks, while the lower set of disks which are cumulatively register the run of the elevator for months at a time. i

' 100 designates a switch lever which is pivoted at 101 to a point within the registering mechanism 60. A spring 102 is arranged to keep this switch normally in the position in which it is shown in Fig. 1.

103 is a gear connected by reductiongears with the driven arbor 63. The reduction between the arbor of the pointer over the second dial and the gear 103 is preferablysuch that when this pointer has revolved 5.28 times, indicating 528 feet of-elevator travel, the gear 103 will be given one complete revolution.

104 is a pin projecting from the side of gear 103 and ,so arranged that when it is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow it will move the left-hand end of switch lever 100 up against the action of spring 102 into" the position in which it is shown in dotted lines.

105 is a contact plate pivotally supported at 106 and normally maintained in a horizontal position by a spring 107.

108 is a piece of insulation over the top and inner edge of this contact plate. When theright-hand end of switch lever 100 is brought down into the position in which it is shown by dotted lines it will push this contact plate down out of its way and will then allow the latter to spring back into its horizontal position. During this part of the operation the contact lever ,will only touch the insulation 108. Now, when the continued movement ofthe pin 10 1 causes it to move beyond the left-hand end of lever 100, the latter will be released and this spring 102 will draw it quickly back into its normal position. In returning to this normal position the right-hand end of the switch lever will wipe across the contact plate 105,. thus insuring a good contact and greater in number will adapted constantly cleaning the faces of the contacts from dust and corrosion.

v109 is an electric battery which is connected, as shown, with the magnet 84, with contact lever 100, and with contact plate 105. The operation above described will momentarily connect the battery with the magnet and cause the latter to perform its function of actuating the auxiliary register. This auxiliary register may, of course, be placed in any convenient position. Where a number of elevators are equipped with the registering apparatus herein described the auxiliary registers may all be installed in one place such as the engineers oifice, so that he may see at a glance just what work the various elevators in all parts of his establishment are doing.

The calibration of the registers to read the distance of travel of the elevator in feet, and the calibration of the auxiliary registers to read the travel in miles are, of course, arbitrarily selected and other units of measurement use if desired. I sometimes use elevator registers of the type herein disclosed as water meters for the purpose of keeping a record of the amount of water used in hydraulic elevators. As such elevators nearly always use water in but one direction it is not necessary in such cases to have the gearing arrangement which I have fully described, as it will be necessary to drive the register in one direction only in the elevators travel. The registering mechanism may then be calibrated and the reduction element so proportioned that the number of gallons of water used may be registered directly by the dials.

The particular type of gearing which I have shown to illustrate my invention is not a part of the invention itself. When the auxiliary registers are used it is possible to check up their readings by comparing them with thereadings of the registers which are positively driven by the elevator machinery and which, through the electrical connec tions described, actuate the auxiliary registers. 4

It is obvious that if desired more than one of the auxiliary registers may be used in conjunction with each elevator register.

What I claim is.-

1. An elevator meter comprising gearing adapted to be positively rotated in both directions by the movements of an elevatorcar, a shaft, a wheel afixed to the shaft, locking means carried by the gearing and arranged to rotate said wheel and the shaft in one direction, a registering mechanism driven by the shaft, a circuit comprising a contact lever actuated by the shaft, and a pivoted contact over which said lever is to slide; combined with a battery, an auxiliary register having two sets of reg istering disks, and an electromagnetfOr actuating the disks; circuits between the circuit-closer, the battery and the electromagnet, said circuit closer being adapted to cut 'the trave in the battery circuit thereby energizing the into the ratchet-teeth, pawls upon. said sec- 0nd bevel gear spring-pressed into the ratchet-teeth, the pawls upon both of said bevel gears being arranged to alternately drive the wheel to thereby im art therotation of the bevel gears to sai j shaft in onedirection, a registering mechanism comprising a plurality of dials actuated by the shaft, and arranged to indicate the travel of the elevator-car in feet, an independent changeable reduction element between theshaft and the registering mechanism, a circuit closer vcomprising a contact lever actuated by the shaft, and -a pivoted contact over which said lever is adapted: to slide; and reduction gearing between the independent reduction ele-, ment and the circuit closer; combined with a batter n auxiliary register having two stering disks arranged to register of the elevator-car in miles and fractions thereof, and an'electromagnet for actuating thedisks; circuits between the circuit closer, the battery, and the electromag net, said'circuit closer being adapted to cut in the battery circuit thereby energizing the magnet which actuates both sets of regissets 0 re tering disks, and means for manually resetting one set of registering disks.

' .3. An elevator meter comprising a bevel gear adapted to be positively rotated in both .directions by the movements of an elevatorcar, a second bevel gear, a pinion connecting said bevel gears, a shaft, a wheel afiixed to said shaft between the bevel gears, said wheel .being provided with ratchet-teeth, pawls upon said positively driven bevel gear engaging said ratchet-teeth, pawls upon said second bevel gear alsoengaging the ratchetteeth, the pawls upon both of the gears being I arranged to alternately drive the wheel to thereby impart the rotation of the bevel gears to said shaft in one direction, a registering mechanism comprising a plurality of dials, and an independent changeable reducbevel gears, said wheel being .iliary re tion element comprising a frame, a driven shaft, a driving shaft and suitable interposed gearing maintained at'a 'fixed relation to each other by said frame, the driven shaft of said independent element being operatively connected to said first-named shaft and the'driving shaftof said element being operatively connected to the registering mechanism.

4. An elevator meter comprising a shaft adapted to be rotated by the movements of an elevator car, a registering mechanism driven by the shaft, a circuit closer gearing interposed'between the shaft and the registering mechanism and the circuit closer arranged to transmit the motion of the shaft to the vregistering mechanism and to guide the circu1t closer, combined with an aux- 'ster comprising ajset of registered tovbe reset and a set mg mem ers arran' of registering mem accumulatively and a single electro-magnetic means for actuating both sets of registering in'iembers and circuits between the circuit closer and the auxiliary register, said cir-.

cuit closer being arranged to control the auxiliary register.

.5. Anelevator meter comprising a shaft adapted to be rotated by the movements of ers arranged to operate an elevator-car, a registering mechanism driven by the shaft, said registering mechanism comprising 'a plurality of dials and arranged to register the tor-car in feet, a circuit closer, an independent changeable reduction element between the shaft and the registermg mechanism and the circuit closer arran ed to transmit the motion of the shaft to t e'registering mechanism and to actuate the circuit closer, and

duction element and the circuit closer, combined with an auxiliary register comprising a set of registering members arranged to be reset, a set of registering members arr'an ed to operate accumulatively and a-single e ectro-magnet for actuating both sets of registering members, and circuits between the circuit closer and the electro-magnet of the auxiliary register whereby said circuit closer is arranged to control the auxiliary register.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses,

HENRY A. DESPEB.

Witnesses:

, AGNES M. DUNLOP,

Arum V. HARRINGTON.

travel of theeleva reduction gears between'the independent re- 

